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Fitchburg High cheer squad: It's a sport (VIDEO)

By Anna Burgess, aburgess@sentinelandenterprise.com

Updated:
09/10/2016 11:55:27 AM EDT

Fitchburg High School cheerleaders practice stunts at Crocker Field on Thursday afternoon. Because of not being an MIAA sport, the team is not allowed to start practices the week before school starts like other sports. SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / Ashley Green

FITCHBURG -- The Lady Raiders of the Fitchburg High School cheerleading team start practice with sprints and strength conditioning. They lift each other over the head, perform twists in the air, flip backward and forward across the ground, and contort their bodies into human structures.

But according to the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, they're not athletes.

Cheerleading is not recognized as a sport.

"We're a club," the Fitchburg senior cheerleaders joked with their coach, Crystal Anderson, on Thursday. "We're just a club."

They're used to people belittling their sport.

"People think we're the cute face in the uniform, but it's so much more than that," said Anderson, who is in her fourth year as coach.

"Having been a cheerleader and having played basketball, I got more injuries cheering.

"It's a sport."

Cheerleaders in Massachusetts follow the same rules in terms of eligibility as all other sports, and they face the same penalties for things like falling below a certain GPA, smoking cigarettes or underage drinking.

"They work just as hard, if not harder, than the football players," Anderson said.

Yet their overseeing agency is the Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators' Association, rather than the MIAA.

When they're treated like athletes in some ways, but not in others, Anderson said sometimes it feels like they get the restrictions of sports but not the benefits.

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So why isn't cheerleading considered a sport by the MIAA?

Mike Connelly, a cheerleading liaison for the MSSAA, said this is "an age-old question."

"Our organization started cheerleading competitions 15-20 years ago and we do a great job managing it," Connelly said. "We see no reason why it shouldn't continue to be an activity for our youngsters."

When the MSSAA incorporated cheering nearly 20 years ago, it had less of an athletic component, so it made more sense that it would be grouped with student activities such as student council and National Honor Society.

Fitchburg High School cheerleaders practice stunts at Crocker Field on Thursday afternoon. Because of not being an MIAA sport, the team is not allowed to start practices the week before school starts like other sports. SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / Ashley Green

It doesn't make as much sense now, local cheerleaders say.

Not being part of the MIAA doesn't seem to affect cheerleaders' safety, even though the MSSAA rules and regulations don't include any state-specific regulations or guidelines for cheer practices, the way MIAA rules do.

The MSSAA does require that member schools comply with the National Federation of High Schools Spirit Guidelines, which regulate tumbling surfaces, stunt skill level, and concussion protocol.

Anderson said the cheerleading teams Fitchburg High competes against, like Lunenburg and Leominster, "always communicate with each other.

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They've "pretty much" figured out how much practice is necessary before certain stunts or routines, and they're consistent across the school districts with how much and how often they practice and what kinds of stunts they do, she said. "But as a coach coming in who knew nothing, I can see where the struggles would be."

Safety aside, there are small differences between the MSSAA and MIAA guidelines that have an impact.

Coaches, for instance, are required to have more training if they're coaching an MIAA sport.

While cheerleading coaches are required to take a coaching course, a concussion course and a sports first-aid course like MIAA sports coaches, they are not required to take the NFHS Sport Specific Technical and Tactical Skills Course as MIAA coaches are.

Fitchburg High School cheerleaders practice stunts at Crocker Field on Thursday afternoon. Because of not being an MIAA sport, the team is not allowed to start practices the week before school starts like other sports. SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / Ashley Green

This is not deemed necessary, even though there is a technical and tactical skills course specifically for cheerleading and dance.

The MIAA also recommends coaches have sports-medicine training, while the MSSAA recommends cheerleading coaches have "some training" in first aid and CPR.

In 2013, cheerleaders and their coaches cited these differences in coaching standards as reason to elevate cheerleading to the level of other sports.

That year, a bill came before the state legislature that would have legally declared cheerleading a sport. The Joint Education Committee heard testimony on the bill from cheerleaders all over Massachusetts and their coaches, but the bill eventually died in committee.

The biggest impact of not being an MIAA sport, Fitchburg cheerleaders said, is financial. Anderson said she thinks the MIAA recognition makes a difference in terms of funding priorities, and senior cheerleaders agreed.

"When people think it's not a sport, we don't get as much as the other teams do," said senior Karsyn McLeod. "I'm not trying to throw shade at football, but they get new uniforms like every two years, we just got new ones after six years."

The MSSAA cheerleading rules and regulations require all equipment to be in "good, safe condition," while the MIAA handbook requires all athletic equipment to be in "first-class condition."

When schools are stretching funds, it makes sense that official sports take priority for equipment replacement.

This is how Fitchburg cheerleaders ended up using practice mats that are at least 15 years old, Anderson said.

"They're so old and worn that it's probably safer at this point to practice on the grass," she said.

The cheerleaders finally got new uniforms this year, and they're hoping the mats are the next update, but obtaining other clothing and equipment often requires the team to fundraise.

Anderson said it doesn't dampen the spirits of her Red Raiders.

"They know (we're not recognized)," Anderson said, "but they take their own initiative to raise money, and they work even harder."

They're certainly determined, but the Fitchburg senior cheerleaders said a lack of recognition or respect can be hard.

Before the joint education committee in 2013, former New England Patriots cheerleader and Dedham high school coach Cheryl Duddy Schoenfeld testified that cheerleaders could become eligible for awards and scholarships given to other athletes if cheerleading became a sport under the MIAA.

"They deserve to be recognized for their accomplishments," she said.

Schoenfeld was asked whether during that hearing if anyone was working with the MIAA to make cheerleading a recognized sport.

"As far as I know, anytime it has been brought up, it has been rebuffed by MIAA," she said.

Cheerleading liaison Connelly, however, said neither the MIAA nor the MSSAA has ever had a formal rule change submitted on behalf of cheerleading.

"We view cheerleaders as great athletes, but we don't worry about whether they're classified as a sport or not," he said. "We don't pay attention to that, nor have we been asked to."

Fitchburg cheerleaders, at least, think it's past time for a change.

"I feel like we don't do as good as we should because there's no one supporting us," Boddie said.

If cheerleading were an MIAA sport, it wouldn't change everyone's attitude, she acknowledged, "but some people would actually recognize our hard work on the mat."

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